National Football League

What we learned in Jared Goff's first preseason game

Published Nov. 15, 2016 2:28 p.m. ET

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The Los Angeles Rams gave up six draft picks, including three first-round selections, to draft quarterback Jared Goff No. 1 overall in the 2016 NFL Draft. The logic behind the move was obvious — the Rams believed they needed a franchise-level quarterback after throwing a league-low 11 passing touchdowns in 2015, and the team needed to make a splash as it moved to a new, larger market.

The Rams officially opened their second Los Angeles era Saturday at the Coliseum, and while Goff didn’t start, he was the evening's main attraction. How would the heralded rookie fare?

Here are the three things we learned from Goff’s preseason debut:

No one can accurately predict how a young quarterback will play in the regular season after watching a preseason performance, but frankly, if such prognostication was possible, there wasn’t much to glean from Goff’s truncated performance Saturday. The Cal quarterback played for only two drives and was limited by conservative play calling. He exited the game having completed four passes on nine attempts with no touchdowns and an interception.

That interception came on a play in which he was hit as he threw, and three of his five incomplete passes were dropped passes on catchable balls. Goff aired it out only once — an incomplete pass — but was constantly under siege by the Cowboys’ front seven. The Rams decided to play it safe — after entering the game with 9:45 in the second quarter, Goff remained on the sidelines at the start of the second half.

The drops. Oh, the drops. Goff wasn’t asked to do much Saturday, but his execution was adequate. The play of the Rams offensive line and wide receivers was anything but adequate, though. The Rams offensive line had a hard time stopping anyone in the first half, failing both Goff and starting quarterback Case Keenum, while the wide receivers, who had major problems separating from coverage last year, found some space Saturday but used stone hands to catch passes. The Rams had the worst passing attack in the NFL last year and it wasn’t just because of poor quarterback play — in fact, it might have been despite decent quarterback play.

Regardless, the Rams clearly are not looking to stash Goff on the bench. His quick pull Saturday was a clear indication of the team’s goals — he can’t help you in the regular season if he’s injured playing in the preseason. You can ask the Eagles about that. Preseason game two should help us form an opinion on Goff’s ability to start in his rookie season, but game one didn’t tell us much about the quarterback himself.